Cancer (disease)

LEGENDARY football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has revealed his tragic terminal cancer diagnosis came as a big shock after he felt he was “fully healthy”.After collapsing and suffering a series of strokes the 75-year-old former Three Lions boss was told the heartbreaking news that he should aim to “live as long as possible”.
Sven revealed in an interview that he felt healthy before his diagnosis but now appreciates every day moreCredit: Twitter
In his prime the former Three Lions boss was regarded as one of the world’s best footballing mindsCredit: Reuters
Sven kept his sad news a secret for almost a year but says it’s taught him to “appreciate every day” and be happy whenever he wakes up in the morning.
Speaking to BBC Sport earlier today, he said: “I thought I was fully healthy, but suddenly I had a stroke, small strokes, so I fell.
“My children took me to the hospital and after one day of examination, they told me I had five small strokes, but that’s okay, they said, no problem, you recovered 100 per cent from that.
“But the worse thing, they said, is that you have cancer.”
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Sven said doctors told him they couldn’t operate on the cancer and would instead give him “treatment and medicine” to help him prolong his already wonderful life.
He continued: “I have that diagnosis and they can’t operate.
“When you get a message like that, I think you appreciate every day and you’re happy when you wake up in the morning and you feel okay so that’s what I’m doing.”
Sven’s shocking revelation came on Sunday during an interview on Sweden’s P1 Radio.
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He spoke about how he suffered a stroke when he collapsed after a 5km run near his Swedish home last year and had to see the doctors.
There he was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer and told he has “a year at best to live”.
He told P1: “Everyone understands that I have an illness that is not good.
“Everyone guesses it’s cancer and it is. But I have to fight as long as I can.”
When asked about the prognosis, Eriksson said he has “maybe at best a year, at worst a little less, or at best maybe even longer”.
Despite knowing about his terminal diagnosis for some time the brave man decided to keep it a secret for a year so he could focus on spending time with his family and friends.
Since February last year he had kept it a private matter even though many had started to grow concerned over his health.
He recently helped to organise a Christmas get-together with his family just in case it was his last.
Lawyer and close pal Anders Runebjer said: “He said nothing about it when we were in the car on the way to the radio station in Karlstad.
“I’m not sure one had even decided then. I don’t know whether it was something he decided right before or during the interview.
“This has been a very difficult thing for Sven and I think he has considered for a long time about when and how to tell about it publicly,” Runebjer told Swedish paper Expressen.
Runebjer said Sven decided to keep his health a secret for so long as it was the best option at the time.
He said: “It has been tough for him. First of all, Sven had to accept himself that he was sick before he could talk about it.
“But now it has matured and he felt he wanted he wanted to share.
“It has been tough and difficult for everyone. Most of all for Sven , of course, but also for those close to him. We have tried to be there and support him as best we can.”
Sven’s last club, Swedish league side Karlstad said they were grateful for Sven’s continuing commitment to the club in spite of his dwindling health.
Despite stepping down from his full-time role last February for undisclosed health reasons, he stayed involved in the club’s work, attending home matches and sponsoring club trips to Italy and Portugal.
Club CEO and sports manager Thomas Andersson told Expresen: “He has not been very active this season.
“He’s been coming to the home games and stuff, so obviously we’ve understood that it hasn’t been great. But he hasn’t had the opportunity to be working.”
“We have had the greatest respect for the fact that Sven has been ill and he himself has had to decide what he wanted to tell and not to tell. We haven’t dug into it that much.”
Eriksson was in charge of the Three Lions’ Golden Generation, taking charge in 2001 and leaving in 2006.
He took England to the quarter-finals in two World Cups and a European Championship.
As well as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand, Eriksson also had aces like Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Michael Owen at his disposal.
He won the Portuguese League three times with Benfica and delivered just the second Serie A in Lazio’s history in 1999/2000, earning the nickname “The Iceman” in Italy.
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The 70-year-old followed up his European success with the Rome club, winning both the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
Sven’s globetrotting achievements made him the first manager to win league-and-cup doubles in three countries. More

BRAVE Sven-Goran Eriksson kept his terminal cancer diagnosis secret for a year to focus on spending quality time with his family and friends, it was revealed today.Sven’s close friend and agent Anders Runebjer revealed the dying soccer boss suddenly decided to break the news of his terminal diagnosis.
Ex-England gaffer Sven-Goran Eriksson, pictured today, said he was diagnosed with cancer after his children took him to hospitalCredit: BBC Sport/ Twitter
Sven, pictured in 2001, coached England from 2001 to 2006Credit: PA:Press Association
(L-R) Frank Lampard, Eriksson, Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard of England arrive for training in 2006Credit: Getty Images – Getty
The former Three Lions boss, 75, made no mention of his plan to reveal his illness live on air on Sweden’s P1 Radio as the pair drove to a Swedish radio interview together.
Sven suffered a stroke when he collapsed after a run near his Swedish home last year and was later diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer – and now has “a year at best to live.”
He had been keeping his illness secret since February last year to focus on his family and recently organised a Christmas get-together – which could have been his last.
Lawyer Mr Runebjer said: “He said nothing about it when we were in the car on the way to the radio station in Karlstad.
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“I’m not sure one had even decided then. I don’t know whether it was something he decided right before or during the interview.
“This has been a very difficult thing for Sven and I think he has considered for a long time about when and how to tell about it publicly,” Runebjer told Swedish paper Expressen
Sven was said to have collapsed the day after a jog before medical tests showed that he had suffered a stroke – but also that he had cancer.
Further tests revealed the popular soccer supremo was suffering from inoperable pancreatic cancer and was terminally ill.
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Speaking to BBC Sport today, he said: “I thought I was fully healthy, but suddenly I had a stroke, small stroke, so I fell.
“My children took me to the hospital and after one day of examination, they told me I had five small strokes, but that’s okay, they said, no problem, you recovered 100 per cent from that.
“But the worse thing, they said, is that you have cancer.”
Sven said doctors told him they would be unable to operate, and would instead give him “treatment and medicine” to “live as long as possible”.
He added: “I have that diagnosis and they can’t operate.
“When you get a message like that, I think you appreciate every day and you’re happy when you wake up in the morning and you feel okay.”
Pal Mr Runebjer said Sven decided to keep his health secret for almost a year before suddenly deciding to go public.
He said: “It has been tough for him. First of all, Sven had to accept himself that he was sick before he could talk about it.
“But now it has matured and he felt he wanted he wanted to share.
“It has been tough and difficult for everyone. Most of all for Sven , of course, but also for those close to him.
“We have tried to be there and support him as best we can.”
Sven’s last club, Swedish league side Karlstad said they were grateful for Sven’s continuing commitment to the club in spite of his failing health.
Despite stepping down from his full-time role last February for undisclosed health reasons, he stayed involved in the club’s work, attending home matches and sponsoring club trips to Italy and Portugal.
Club CEO and sports manager Thomas Andersson told Expresen: “He has not been very active this season.
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“He’s been coming to the home games and stuff, so obviously we’ve understood that it hasn’t been great. But he hasn’t had the opportunity to be working.”
“We have had the greatest respect for the fact that Sven has been ill and he himself has had to decide what he wanted to tell and not to tell. We haven’t dug into it that much.”
What is pancreatic cancer?PANCREATIC cancer is the tenth most common type of cancer in the UK and the fifth most common cause of cancer death, according to CRUK.
The disease affects a large gland that is part of the digestive system – the pancreas is located behind the stomach and under the liver.
It has two main functions: dripping digestive enzymes into the gut to help break down food, and releasing the hormones insulin and glucagon to regulate blood sugar.
Pancreatic cancer occurs when malignant – cancerous – cells form in the tissues of the pancreas.
Five signs of the disease that could be mistaken for another condition, or niggle, include persistent stomach ache, backache, indigestion, unexplained weight loss and bowel habit changes.
Other symptoms that might be more obvious include jaundice, difficulty swallowing and vomiting.
Patients may also suffer the symptoms of diabetes because pancreatic disease stops the production of insulin.
The causes of the disease are not exactly known but there are several risk factors that can make someone more likely to get the disease.

Eriksson (L) smiles at captain David Beckham during a training session in Shizuoka June 20, 2002Credit: Reuters
Eriksson with then-girlfriend Nancy Dell’Olio in 2002Credit: Rex Features
Eriksson, pictured this week, had kept his diagnosis secretCredit: Filip Bohm More

LAURA FORDE has revealed that she was planning for her “own funeral” after being told she had an inoperable brain tumour – before a kind intervention from Ryan Reynolds.Laura is the wife of Wrexham star Anthony Forde and was diagnosed with a tumour halfway through last season.
Anthony Forde’s wife Laura was diagnosed with a brain tumourCredit: INSTAGRAM – LIVINGWITHLJM
Ryan Reynolds helped them get a second opinionCredit: Getty
Wrexham co-owner and Hollywood star Reynolds reached out to the couple after they were told the devasting news.
Laura noticed that something was wrong just three days after giving birth as she felt her co-ordination was “off”.
An MRI scan found a mass that Laura and Forde were told was inoperable and that her life expectancy would be shortened.
Laura has admitted that she was left planning her own funeral and that life had become a “nightmare”.
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She told the Sunday Times: “The neurologist told us it was inoperable and you have a timeline.
“We said then we didn’t want to know how long. Paddy was four weeks old and I am being told basically that I may not see my son turn a year old.
“No word of a lie, I was planning my funeral as I was doing those night feeds. I was crying silently. It was a really low time. A living nightmare.
“It was a very low time. In the first few months after giving birth, a woman is severely all over the place hormonally, not to mind getting this landed on me. Emotionally, it was just a roller coaster.
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“I was initially in shock and disbelief. I was in such a vulnerable place that I felt I should be happier about this, but I had just been through the worst seven weeks imaginable with my newborn baby.”
The couple were helped by Reynolds however as he helped them to seek a second opinion.
A neurologist in New York believed that the mass was actually a grade 1 Thalamic pilocytic astrocytoma after a biopsy.
This is a benign brain tumour and would be a lot less dangerous than the original prognosis.
In September, Laura also revealed that there had been no growth in the tumour.
However, she has been left with a headache after a screw was left in her head after her biopsy.
She wrote on Instagram: “I wanted my wound checked as I felt like something wasn’t right with it. I was convinced I could feel something.
“To my horror I was told there was a screw left behind from the biopsy. Wtf?! How?!
“I’m now left with the options to either get it removed (more surgery) or leave it there?!”
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The Fordes’ struggles have featured in the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, but they have no diubt that the two Hollywood stars weren;t after god publicity.
Forde said: “They are such normal people and there is not a chance that they would do this for publicity. They don’t need it. I remember saying to Ryan ‘I can’t thank you enough’ and he said, ‘People have helped me too.’” More